Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A device comprising: one or more ports to: receive incoming layer 2 traffic from subscribers, at least some of the incoming traffic being associated with one or more virtual local area networks (VLANs); a filter to: extract layer 2 header information from the incoming traffic, classify, based on the extracted layer 2 header information, the incoming traffic as layer 2 output traffic or layer 3 output traffic, and determine that the incoming traffic is to be cross connected through a network associated with the device when the incoming traffic is classified as the layer 2 output traffic; a cross connect component to: transmit, from the device, the incoming traffic as layer 2 traffic when the filter determines that the incoming traffic is to be cross connected through the network; and a termination component to: convert the incoming traffic into a layer 3 packet when the incoming traffic is classified as the layer 3 output traffic, when converting the incoming traffic into the layer 3 packet, the termination component is to: insert a layer 3 packet header, and transmit, after converting the incoming traffic into the layer 3 packet, the layer 3 packet when the incoming traffic is classified as the layer 3 output traffic.
2. The device of claim 1 , where, when classifying the incoming traffic, the filter is to: classify the incoming traffic based on information identifying a protocol type in the layer 2 header information.
3. The device of claim 2 , where the layer 2 header information includes an ether type field, and where the ether type field includes the information identifying the protocol type.
4. The device of claim 1 , where, when classifying the incoming traffic, the filter is to: classify the incoming traffic based on information identifying one or more source or destination media access control (MAC) addresses in the layer 2 header information.
5. The device of claim 1 , where, when classifying the incoming traffic, the filter is to: classify packets in the incoming traffic based on a particular VLAN, of the one or more VLANs, associated with the packets.
6. The device of claim 1 , where the filter is implemented via one or more of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or a content-addressable memory (CAM).
7. The device of claim 1 , where, when classifying the incoming traffic, the filter is to: classify, based on the layer 2 header information, packets in the incoming traffic as the layer 2 output traffic when a protocol associated with the packets is a point-to-point (PPP) protocol.
8. The device of claim 1 , where, when classifying the incoming traffic, the filter is to: classify packets in the incoming traffic as the layer 3 output traffic when a protocol associated with the packets is Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) or Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).
9. The device of claim 1 , where, when transmitting the incoming traffic as the layer 2 traffic, the cross connect component is to: transmit the incoming traffic as VLAN cross connect traffic.
10. The device of claim 1 , where the device includes a subscriber edge router, a provider edge router, or an aggregation switch.
11. A method comprising: receiving, by a network device, packets of a virtual local area network (VLAN); analyzing, by the network device, information identifying a protocol type included in layer 2 header information of the packets of the VLAN; classifying, by the network device and based on the protocol type, the packets as layer 2 output traffic or layer 3 output traffic; determining, by the network device, that the packets are to be cross connected through a network associated with the network device when the packets are classified as the layer 2 output traffic; transmitting, from the network device, the packets as layer 2 traffic of the VLAN when the network device determines that the packets are to be cross connected through the network; converting, by the network device, the packets into one or more layer 3 packets when the packets are classified as the layer 3 output traffic, converting the packets into the one or more layer 3 packets including inserting a layer 3 packet header; and transmitting, by the network device and after converting the packets into the one or more layer 3 packets, the one or more layer 3 packets when the packets are classified as the layer 3 output traffic.
12. The method of claim 11 , where transmitting the packets as the layer 2 traffic includes: transmitting the packets via the VLAN.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: receiving, from an administrator, configuration information that specifies parameters for analyzing the protocol type; and storing the configuration information.
14. The method of claim 11 , where classifying the packets includes: classifying the packets based on the protocol type and one or more source or destination media access control (MAC) addresses associated with the packets.
15. The method of claim 11 , where classifying the packets includes classifying the packets based on the protocol type and information associated with the VLAN.
16. The method of claim 11 , where classifying the packets includes: classifying the packets as the layer 2 output traffic when the protocol type is a point-to-point (PPP) protocol type; and classifying the packets as the layer 3 output traffic when the protocol type is an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) or Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) protocol type.
17. The method of claim 11 , where transmitting the packets as the layer 2 traffic includes: transmitting the packets as VLAN cross connect traffic.
18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising: one or more instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a network device, cause the at least one processor to: receive layer 2 packets, analyze information identifying a protocol type that is included in header information of the layer 2 packets, classify the layer 2 packets as layer 2 output traffic or layer 3 output traffic based on the protocol type, determine that the layer 2 packets are to be cross connected through a network associated with the network device when the layer 2 packets are classified as the layer 2 output traffic, transmit the layer 2 packets as layer 2 output traffic when the layer 2 packets are to be cross connected through the network, convert the layer 2 packets into one or more layer 3 packets when the layer 2 packets are classified as the layer 3 output traffic, and transmit, after converting the layer 2 packets into the one or more layer 3 packets, the one or more layer 3 packets when the layer 2 packets are classified as the layer 3 output traffic.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , where the one or more instructions to classify the layer 2 packets comprise: one or more instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: classify the layer 2 packets based on the protocol type and a virtual local area network (VLAN) associated with the layer 2 packets.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , where the one or more instructions to classify the layer 2 packets comprise: one or more instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: classify the layer 2 packets based on the protocol type and source or destination media access control (MAC) addresses associated with the layer 2 packets.
21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , where the one or more instructions to classify the layer 2 packets comprise: one or more instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: classify the layer 2 packets as the layer 2 output traffic when the protocol type is a point-to-point (PPP) protocol type; and classify the layer 2 packets as the layer 3 output traffic when the protocol type is an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) or Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) protocol type.
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September 17, 2013
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